Decentralization: Its Effect on Us

By John K. Berokoff, The Molokan*, January 1946.
(Published not by Molokane, but by Dukh-i-zhiznik COs at the Three Rivers Civilian Public Service Camp, archived at Dukh-i-zhiznik Molokan C.O. History . This article could have been drafted for the Молоканское Обозрение : The Molokan Review)

In seeking the many causes for the general lack of interest in my Dukh-i-zhiznik faiths things Molokan by the present generation, one must not overlook the trend towards decentralization that began in our communities community about twenty years ago, about 1926 after WWI during 2 consecutive economic depressions.

It is easy to recall the diaspora Spiritual Christians in Los Angeles community as they it appeared in the years 1910-1925. The Flat(s) It was compact, it was self-sustaining and self-perpetuating. Each group from Russia It had its own congregations, stores and meat markets that catered to its own tastes and religious requirements. One could not make the present day excuse for buying non-Spiritual Christian Molokan butchered meat by saying that he could not spare the car to travel to “flats” for the meat.
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Initially, each major congregation in the Flat(s) had its own store, supported mainly by their congregation. The same system occurred in San Francisco for the Molokane. Shopping at the store of another congregation was religiously incorrect, particularly for the most zealous. Congregations with no store had a choice. Eventually stores closed as the population shifted east and south, leaving 2 stores into the 1970s.

The meeting halls churches were close. No one lived beyond walking distance of one, except those who lived in the Karakala district, and it could be said that those who did live there were no less diligent in walking to “flats” twice each Sunday for church services. Special religious events (holidays, weddings, child dedications*, etc.) Church “doings” [delo : ritual ceremony with communal meal] were not as frequent then as they are now, but the services were much better attended then, than they are today. Even the Saturday night services were very well attended.
* The increase in "doings" was due to an American-born population boom and youth social groups which helped increase the frequency of weddings and child dedications through the 1930s depression and WWII. During the depression, communal meals were well attended by the underfed.
I don't yet know if Berokoff ever lived in the Flat(s). His family's first recorded address was in Bethlehem, then at 335 South State street, 2 blocks east of Flat(s), and north of 4th street. So he was much closer to businesses and meeting halls than those in Karakala who never had a community owned store or meeting hall in that neighborhood. But "Big Church," "Freeway" (Beswick street) and Akhtinsky (Samarin's, Percy Street) congregations moved east past and as close to Karakala as possible. 

Religious issues were kept alive by constant discussion at home by members of the family, by neighbors talking over the backyard fence, or by neighbors and friends who dropped in for an evening to discuss the happenings of the last sobraniya [religious meeting]. High interest was given to interpreting prophesies. After 1945, hopes for returning to Kars, Turkey, as prophesied were extinguished.

The elders were able to fulfill their duties to their flock because most lived in the Flat(s) and it was no hardship to make their periodic visit to the nearby sick or to those who were lagging in their meeting church attendance. Any problems confronting the Spiritual Christians Molokan community were quickly decided by the elders, who could be summoned to a meeting on an hour’s notice.

But the "elders" were not of the same faiths and would not cooperate with each other. Many serious social problems were rarely addressed by "elders" or openly discussed in public forum (sobranie), like alcoholism, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, gang fights, divorce, intermarriage, and crime. It was easier for "elders" (often the most zealous) to evict offenders from a congregation than provide counseling and guidance, for which "elders" had no training. I was told by the late John John Samarin, that at first he was indoctrinated to hate Jack Green (YRCA adviser), but after learning that Green visited and counseled many Dukh-i-zhiznik kids in jail who were abandoned by their parents, he respected him.

The streets of the community responded to the cries of Molokan children by day and to Molokan singing by night. It was hardly possible to walk a block in any direction in the evening without hearing Molokan singing in Russian either at some home prayer service or a budding choir practicing new songs in the home of someone, while enjoying [tea and pastry turnovers] “chi and nachinki”. Even the grown-up boys and girls added their bit by their Russian folk songs at some [evening party] “vecherinka.”

All this, alas, has disappeared, due mainly to urban renewal projects and highway building. The neighborhood began to acquire a shabby, disreputable appearance. The younger of the married people gradually began to move to outlying White communities [new suburbs east and south] and to settle among non-Spiritual Christian Molokan neighbors. Many began to lose contact with the influence of the elders church, and to learn to disregard the dietary regulations* of the various Dukh-i-zhiznik religions. In place of choir practice [spevka] with chi, there were poker parties with beer. In place of Sunday meetings church attendance, there were picnics at the beach or mountains, while the fear of embarrassment or criticism or American neighbors made prayer services at home embarrassingly unwelcome.
* Contact with Protestant Americans and Reformed Jews convinced many that Old Testament dietary laws and taboos were antiquated by the New Testament, and all food was safe to eat.
The elders could not maintain close contact with their congregation because of difficulty in locating their places of residence.

There was no community phone directory until 1956, when a list was collected by Paul John Orloff (Black and White Market, Indiana st.) who planned give out free books to advertise his store on the cover. His project was stolen, printed and sold by the UMCA with a different cover ad. Why didn't congregations provide membership contact lists for these "elders" earlier? Because: (a) it was not a tradition in Russia; (b) fears retained by zealots from Old Russia forbid them to compile any data lists, which stops such a suggestion before it can be discussed*; and (c) the few with bi-lingual skills and sufficient education would unlikely be asked to do such a project because those most close to the "elders" barely finished 8th grade, while most of the higher educated youth were unavailable, in college and/or active in the YRCA and/or UMCA, enemies of Dukh-i-zhizniki. 
* Бог знает кто родился и кто умер,  и это хватит. "God knows who was born and who died, and that is sufficient."
All these factors combined to work against the interests of Dukh-i-zhiznik brotherhood morale. To offset them effectively, the present commendable efforts, such as young people’s meetings churches, Bible studies and spevkas, must be doubled or trebled; but not by the YRCA or UMCA. Means must be found for the elders to make their influence felt in every home. The lethargy must be aroused and, where necessary, more aggressive [zealous] men placed in responsible positions. Even these measures might be inadequate to offset the discouraging trend, but as long as we remain within the corrupting influence of this great city (i.e. Los Angeles), we must struggle as best we can with what means we could find.
Also by John K. Berokoff, edited by Andrei Conovaloff